Engagement Rings

claire16c

gadgeteer wrote: »

Here's a question though. Which of the 4 C's is most important? Obviously it's a tradeoff in some respects.

But is it better to get a larger carat at the cost of clarity & colour? Or is it better to get a smaller carat but better clarity/colour?

Because whilst I can understand in theory colour & clarity are important, in practice can women truly tell? Especially when they are showing their friends & family, is it not better to have a bigger carat?

Depends on the person.

I wont lie I wanted a large stone so I had to compromise on the clarity, I ended up with a 1.5 carat. But the colour is pretty good it looks very 'white'.

But one of my friends is an art teacher so went for a ring with lots of tiny stones as otherwise a big stone would get in the way of all the clay and paint etc! So she probably has better clarity of stones than me.

You cant have it all unless youre loaded, so something has to give in most cases!

Pollycat

gadgeteer wrote: »

Here's a question though. Which of the 4 C's is most important? Obviously it's a tradeoff in some respects.

But is it better to get a larger carat at the cost of clarity & colour? Or is it better to get a smaller carat but better clarity/colour?

Because whilst I can understand in theory colour & clarity are important, in practice can women truly tell? Especially when they are showing their friends & family, is it not better to have a bigger carat?

One the website I gave the link to, you can tinker with the 'changeables'.
Choose the cut first as that is probably the most important decision e.g. round brilliant, emerald princess, marquise.

Then you choose the clarity, carat and colour and the website will give you a choie of stones in your range.

You can then go back and choose a better colour e.g. E instead of J but a slightly lesser quality e.g. VS1 instead of VVS1 and see what carat size you can get for the same money.

I think most women would go for a bigger stone with a less good colour.
Also, there are important cut-off points.
The difference in price between a 1 carat and 1.02 carat stone (of same colour and clarity) would be much less than the difference between a .99 carat and 1 carat - because you've hit a big size change at 1 carat.

Of course, very few people would be able to tell the difference between a few points.

Also, some diamonds have a larger 'table' and therefore look bigger but the way the stone has been cut may not be very good and you might not get the same 'fire' as you would from a better cut stone.

Not many people are interested in the above when choosing an engagement ring.

I have a standing joke with the jeweller I use when in Goa, when (Hah! if) I win the lottery, I'll be asking for a 1.5 carat colour D, internally flawless diamond.

For anybody who's interested, from Diamond Geezer that would cost £39K (usually £46.7K) with a high street price of £68,244.00. :eek:

claire16c

pollycat wrote: »

i have a standing joke with the jeweller i use when in goa, when (hah! If) i win the lottery, i'll be asking for a 1.5 carat colour d, internally flawless diamond.

For anybody who's interested, from diamond geezer that would cost £39k (usually £46.7k) with a high street price of £68,244.00. :eek:

omg!!!!!!!!

Idiophreak

claire16c wrote: »

What about if the woman has it wrong though? Its hard to tell unless you actually were to try on rings - which I find to be weird if you are not yet engaged.

That's tough, yeah - especially if they are after something antique, with a particular non-diamond stone or anything else kind of "non-standard"...But even then, I think it's easy to say "I think she'll like that" "that one's nice, but it doesn't have the sparkle of the other" "this one's nice, but I think she'd find it a little big day-to-day" and, ultimately, end up with the same decision as you'd have reached with her there. That's the theory, anyway.

I can't decide if I'm a) lucky that I know exactly what she likes b) have worked pretty hard over the last 10 years learning what she likes or c) have no clue what she likes, but she's good at pretending. Obviously, I like to think it's the second one, mainly...But I appreciate not all women are as easy to buy for as she is...

claire16c

Idiophreak wrote: »

That's tough, yeah - especially if they are after something antique, with a particular non-diamond stone or anything else kind of "non-standard"...But even then, I think it's easy to say "I think she'll like that" "that one's nice, but it doesn't have the sparkle of the other" "this one's nice, but I think she'd find it a little big day-to-day" and, ultimately, end up with the same decision as you'd have reached with her there. That's the theory, anyway.

I can't decide if I'm a) lucky that I know exactly what she likes b) have worked pretty hard over the last 10 years learning what she likes or c) have no clue what she likes, but she's good at pretending. Obviously, I like to think it's the second one, mainly...But I appreciate not all women are as easy to buy for as she is...

Yeah that could definitely happen - I suppose if she hasnt seen the 'other' rings then there is nothing to compare it to anyway. I suppose because I am bad at making a decision on things I like to know I have seen all of the 'others' even if I end up with the same one at the end!

claireandrichard

I chose my ring myself, we went on holiday said he wanted to by me a present so we went shopping and I picked the ring, he got all my fingers measured. He went back and got the ring in the correct size. Do agree with the others that it may be best for her to pick the ring with you especially if you don't know her ring size.

Rich1c23

Ok, so a lot of responses so sorry in adavance for not responding to each.

In a response to a few of the questions, the ring has to be either platinum or white gold and at this current moment in time I do not know her ring size, this is something i'm trying to find out. I haven't proposed to her I am planning on doing so next year on a suprise holiday i've booked!

I know some people may find this a tad naive but I am set on buying the ring myself, I know her well enough to trust my own judgement in buying a ring - it's just finding that ring. I also have 100% faith in her to tell me her honest opinion.

I'm going to head to Birmingham next week with a friend and hopefully that will assist in my search.

retepetsir

Blue Nile (online) is a great starting point, lets you compare the 4 C's and see what your £££ gets you

shegirl

Rich1c23 wrote: »

Ok, so a lot of responses so sorry in adavance for not responding to each.

In a response to a few of the questions, the ring has to be either platinum or white gold and at this current moment in time I do not know her ring size, this is something i'm trying to find out. I haven't proposed to her I am planning on doing so next year on a suprise holiday i've booked!

I know some people may find this a tad naive but I am set on buying the ring myself, I know her well enough to trust my own judgement in buying a ring - it's just finding that ring. I also have 100% faith in her to tell me her honest opinion.

I'm going to head to Birmingham next week with a friend and hopefully that will assist in my search.

Good for you I'm sure you'll find the perfect ring but I can't advise where to look.

I would never want to chose my own ring,yes you want it to be something you like but it is such a special ring with special importance that the guy should choose it and put the work in himself.If I had to choose my own I'd feel wrong and materialistic tbh:o but that's just the way I am.Besides,my oh knows perfectly well that I must have a ruby with small diamonds to show it off,in white gold and it something pretty or unique on the arms:)

Pollycat

Rich1c23 wrote: »

In a response to a few of the questions, the ring has to be either platinum or white gold

I doubt you'll find many (if any) vintage, Edwardian or Victorian rings in white gold and you'll pay a premium for platinum.